Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I live in a rural constituency and I see how difficult it is for young people to get planning permission in the areas where they want to build homes. People are being refused planning permission. They cannot build on their own farms because they are not the person farming the land. If we are to have sustainable communities in rural Ireland, we need to make sure people can build in rural areas. We have to support our national schools and sporting clubs.

Earlier, we had questions on sewage treatment plants in villages which are non-existent. We have some of the most peculiar rules. A young man living in my village applied for planning permission but because the house would have been 50 m outside the speed limit demarcation, he could not get it. However somebody coming from 7 km or 8 km away can get planning permission. The practical way to do this is to dispense with all the terminology and try to ensure that we allow people to build houses in a sustainable way to keep rural Ireland sustainable.

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